Jump-Starting Grades
by SideshowJazz1
Summary: A much better Jumpstart 3rd Grade story. Grace is in second grade, and wishes she could skip into third. When, after a Friday detention, she stops at an open third grade classroom and picks up the TransQuizzer, she's given the chance to test her above-second grade knowledge by helping a robot save the world. Can she really handle it?
1. Prologue: The Day The Robot Crashed

**A/N: Right, yeah, I know. I never finished my first Jumpstart 3rd Grade avatar playthrough fic. But Mia never really had that much personality, and nor did she have any fun, definining characteristics. Grace, though? Well, you'll have to find out.**

**Plot: It's Friday afternoon at a certain futuristic school, and seven-year-old Grace Christie is on her way home from detention, when she notices a third-grade teacher has already gone home and forgotten to lock the classroom door. A little device keeps making sounds, so Grace picks it up, just to turn it off, when something breaks the window and flies in, and suddenly, Grace is asked to go on a life-saving mission to save the world...and her opponent is just a tiny bit ahead of her, in grades, that is!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jumpstart 3rd Grade, the TransQuizzer, or any of the characters apart from Grace. **

Whoever invented Friday detentions could jump off a cliff, as far as I was concerned. Or shoot into space and never come back. I'd even settle for them getting thrown in prison. No kid would want to still be in school at four-thirty. And hello, I was only seven! I wanted to be skipped to third grade, sure, but it didn't mean they could treat me like a criminal and keep me locked up here after hours, even if I did talk to my friends during class all the time. Look, it wasn't as if I hadn't finished my work! That's why I wanted to go into third grade, but all I heard was that I wasn't _mature _enough, that I wouldn't be able to handle the workload, that it was harder than I thought. Well, second grade was still too easy, and there was never any second-and-a-half grade. So it was either working on easy stuff, or begging until they gave in to give me a challenge. At least third grade would've taught me something.

Perhaps that was the reason that when the teacher finally let me go and I walked out to get my bag and leave, I detoured past the classrooms belonging to the third and fourth grade. In some, teachers were still marking books, or the door was locked and the teacher was gone, but one was empty. And the door was open.

I looked into the room enviously, reading the tables written on the blackboard and admiring the globe. "I wish I could be one of your group this year instead of next." I murmured out loud. After all, two times eight? I mean, I could work that one out in my head! Math equations like that were far too easy.

At that moment, I heard a weird blipping noise behind me, and whirled around. On a desk at the front of the room, a little device was making the sound. I curiously picked it up, meaning to turn it off, but suddenly, the room seemed to darken all of a sudden. I went to put the device back down, but before I could, there was suddenly the sound of shattering glass and I crouched down, not wanting a shard to hit me.

The sound had come from the window. Something blue and shiny had shattered it. It reached a hand up to pull themselves up, but I stayed crouched down behind the desk. I didn't want it to notice me.

Not that it was frightening – it was only a robot, but the way it had crashed through the window might have meant it was broken. And the last thing I wanted was a robot turning into a murderous one like that movie where the androids kept killing the heroes. Plus there was something unsettling about the red lights this one had for eyes.

The robot suddenly spoke, in an anxious, boyish voice. "If Professor Spark had meant for me to fly, he'd have given me wings." it grumbled out loud. "But what could I do? This mission is too important. Now where could it be...?"

I had just stood up and begun to inch towards the door, when the robot caught my eye. I started backing away faster, but it reacted more violently, jumping back and blinking rapidly. Then, suddenly, he...I mean, its voice meant it had to be a he...spoke, smiling nervously. "Wait...you don't have to run away. I was just startled. I didn't think any of the kids would still be here."

"I had detention." I said in a tiny voice. "I was just going to turn off this thing..." I still had the device in my hand.

The robot stared at me, then the device. "I think that's the...um...TransQuizzer! Be careful with that thing, OK? The future of the world may depend on that little machine." He went back to talking to himself. "That is, if I'm not too late...there's just so little time and so much to do..." He paused, glancing back at me, and then, he turned back to me properly. "I only came here for the TransQuizzer, but I knew I'd need help. Could you help me? If you think you can handle it, you can help me save the world!"

"What?" I frowned. How had I gotten from "I wish I could skip a grade" to "help a robot save the world"?

"I'll explain everything in a minute." the robot promised. "After that, you can decide. But first of all, what's your name?"

"Grace." I mumbled, still stunned with everything that was happening.

The robot smiled. When he smiled, he looked a lot more...human, in a way. "My official name is Android Excel 2," he said, "But you can call me Botley if you want. Professor Spark calls me that, so that's what most people call me. It's not what Polly calls me...well, never mind what Polly calls me."

I frowned again. "Who's Polly?"

"Oh, she's Professor Spark's daughter." Botley said. "The Professor created me as sort of a babysitter. Really a companion. He had so much trouble finding sitters for Polly, because she scares them all away, so he invented me. I'm also programmed to be her friend...but believe me, it's tougher than it sounds." He sighed as he spoke, then gave me an eager look. "But maybe if you want to help me, we could be-'" but then he cut himself off. "I'm not getting to the point, am I? Let me start from the beginning." Then, a panel in his stomach opened, showing pictures. As he did it, he explained everything.

According to the story, Professor Spark, his inventor, had gone to an inventors' convention for a while (they usually lasted a month, apparently), so Botley was meant to be holding the fort. Polly had, for whatever reason, come home from school furious and locked herself in her father's secret chamber. And then...well...apparently Professor Spark had made a time machine, and for whatever reason, Polly had used it to send twenty-five different robots back in time, which made all these changes to the world. Look, maybe I giggled when I heard about the Statue of Liberty being made of licorice, but I certainly didn't want to travel everywhere by pogo stick when I was old enough to drive.

"It's all happening so quickly!" Botley finished, closing the stomach panel. "But I was thinking, if you helped me, we could rescue all the androids, and maybe stop the world from getting any weirder than it should be. As long as you have all the third-grade knowledge..." he trailed off when he saw me scowling. "Uh...you _are _in third grade, right?"

I scowled harder. "No, but I should be. I'm seven, so I'm in second grade, but it's too easy. Just..." I made an effort to smile. "Don't worry, I've been begging the school to let me skip a grade forever. I was in detention because I finished my work too fast and then I kept talking to my friends. I should be able to do it." Then I thought of something else. "What about my dad, though? I can't exactly tell him I have to go save the world." (I lived with my dad – my parents were divorced, but I didn't bother to mention that).

Botley paused, thinking about it. "Well, the thing is, your parents will have noticed the change in the world. They'll understand that part. If they really don't want you to, I guess I'll need to find someone else, but I have a feeling you're the kind of person who can do this. What about if we go back to your house and I'll tell your parents how much I need your help? You can stay in the mountain with us, and I'm pretty sure phones aren't affected, so you and your parents can call each other as much as you need to."

To be honest, helping save the world was kind of attractive. Fun, even. And if it was testing my smarts...well, maybe if it worked, I would be able to skip second grade, like I deserved.

I smiled properly. "Well, I don't actually see my mom nowadays, but if I can call my dad...okay!"

**I know, I know, setup, but still, there's a few differences. First, because it's real life, Grace has to talk with her dad about this. I know, there's no way real parents would let their kid do this, but then again, even in the future, would a parent trust a robot to babysit their kid? That's Botley's function – it's why he's not academic, but is responsible and can override programming if the programme causes harm to other people.**


	2. Chapter 1: Sparking Off A Rivalry

**Well, Grace needs to ask for permission before she can go to Mystery Mountain.**

It was a good thing my home was only a few blocks away. Botley told me we'd have to fly to Mystery Mountain, his home, and he'd "borrowed" a rocket and installed it in a panel on his back but didn't really know how to make it work properly (which was why he crash-landed in the classroom). However, we could just walk to my house, and I definitely wasn't ready to die until I'd talked to my family. Oh yeah, and I gave him the TransQuizzer thingy. He stored it in his stomach (yeah, he could open that panel whenever he wanted) safely.

Okay, so I didn't die. When I walked into my house with a robot, though, my dad looked like he was about to flip. Then he took a deep breath, and said in a scarily calm voice "I was starting to get worried when you didn't get home at the usual after-detention time, Grace. So who is this?"

"Um," I said nervously, "Has anything...um, changed recently? You know, in a historical aspect?"

My little sister Kerry suddenly dashed into view, clearly having heard every word. "I know! I know!" she called out. "When I got home today, the book I was reading said that Jess went into hospital and she didn't get her tonsils out, the nurse just gave her cupcakes!"

Jay, my big brother, who'd been lounging in the living room all that time, stood up and scoffed "That's not weird for a little kids' book. Now this is weird – on the way home, I saw these signs telling us to vote an orangutan in as President!"

"Yes, that's what I meant." I said. "You see, Dad, this is...well, he has an official name, but everyone calls him Botley. He knows why this has been happening, and he's been looking for help to change it back to normal from someone who can do all the stuff he can't. You know, brain stuff. That's where I come in, but I knew I needed to ask for permission first."

Dad opened his mouth to say what I knew would be no, but I hurried on "I'll call you every day and tell you what's going on and it's going to be just like school anyway because it's all learning stuff, and if you think it's too dangerous and want me to pull out, I will."

"My charge, who's done all this," Botley interjected, "Is only eight years old. I wasn't programmed with academic skills, but Grace tells me she's a good student, so I figured she'd be able to manage it. And me and all the other robots in our mountain will make sure she's all right. I've got lots of friends, and she'll even have her own room. I was programmed as a companion prototype, so I have all the practical knowledge you might want. And like Grace said, she'll call you as much as you want and if you want her to pull out at any time, I don't mind finding someone else to help me. It'll be less than a month."

Dad paused for a moment, looking at Botley's earnest iron face, then took another deep breath. "I'll think about it." he said. "But Grace, you can go for the weekend. I'll let you know my verdict on Sunday evening, and you tell me what kind of things you've been doing that are like school. If I approve, you can stay. If I don't, you come straight back."

Well, that was the best I could hope for. Besides, Botley actually hadn't told me that much. I wanted the world to get back to normal, but maybe I'd be happy to give up on the whole saving-the-world thing after the weekend was over.

"So, how are we getting to your mountain home thing?" I asked him. "You said flying, right?"

Botley gave a nod. "Uh-huh. I'd piggyback you, but that would block the rocket I'm using. So is it OK if I carry you just in my arms?"

I looked at him doubtfully. "Sure you can bear my weight that way?"

Botley shrugged. "Sure. I'm a robot, remember? I'm stronger than I look. It's probably safer that way, anyway. It means I take the full force if we don't land perfectly, and I can withstand it."

And that was all true. We did crash-land, but I, at least, landed safely. Botley was a bit dazed after the landing at first...and the rocket shot away of its own accord, but apart from that, nothing was broken.

"Well, this is it." Botley said, gesturing to the door. "Home sweet home. Polly should be inside, and I bet she's watching us now." He started looking around.

"Um, what are you looking for?" I asked.

"One of the monitors. Polly's in her dad's secret chamber, remember? It alerts you if someone's at the door and if she wants to let us in, she will. But more likely, she'll contact us via a monitor."

At that moment, a monitor rose up on the left. On flashed a video stream of a girl I recognized vaguely from passing at school. It wasn't that she was that memorable in herself. Dozens of girls had blonde pigtails. I wore my hair in pigtails too, even though they were tied lower down and were brown, not blonde. But not many girls wore lab coats, lab glasses and red sneakers to school. It was just so easy to pick up on her presence when I saw that outfit.

She ignored me at first, and addressed Botley with the wrong name – oh yeah, he'd said she didn't call him that. "Oh, Snotley, you're back!" she said with a smirk. "I've been looking for you."

"My name is Botley." the robot said in such a hostile tone, I knew he'd said it millions of times.

Polly ignored this comment and said "So who's your friend? I thought you might bring help." She looked at me again, and then said "Oh yeah! I know you – you go to my school, right? But you're one of the little kids."  
"It's Grace to you." I snapped. "And I'm only a year younger than you, so we'll be in the same area next year, or even in the same class once I prove I'm just as smart as any third-grader. You probably know me because I'm top of everything in my class."

Polly's smirk only widened. "Oh, well, this might be fun. I notice you also have the TransQuizzer."

"She knows we need it to save the world." Botley whispered to me.

"Didn't my father teach you it's rude to tell secrets, Rotley?" Polly said sharply. "Well, I suppose he's told you his side of everything, but what does he know?" Then she explained why she'd changed history at all. She'd had a history quiz and knew all the answers, so she made up silly wrong answers, then took offence when she got a zero, so figured changing history with the time machine was better than getting an F. Weird – why did she make up answers and then expect to still get a good grade? Especially since she claimed she knew the real answers.

"Unfortunately," Polly finished, "There's still one more question, the extra-credit question, and it's super hard. That's why I've been looking for you, Notley."

"That's _Botley_! And I want nothing to do with your plans!" Botley declared. "Just bring those robots back right now! Don't you see, Polly? You could destroy us all!"

Polly just mimicked him, and then suggested we just do exactly what we were planning on – bringing the robots back. She said she'd leave the first of the five quiz discs on the first floor and then we could use them and the TransQuizzer to figure out where she sent the robots to put them back. I had to wonder why she was actually trying to give us help with erasing her historical rewrites.

"Oh, by the way," she finished, "You have to get in the house first, and I changed the locks. Good luck!" And then the monitor went black and disappeared behind a rock.

Botley gave a sigh. "Oh well. At least the locks are manageable, even when they're changed. How are you at memory games?"

I shrugged. "Good, I think. Why? What's that got to do with the locks?"

"That's how it works." Botley explained. "The original combination was written down, but now Polly's changed it, we'll have to work it out. When you ring the doorbell, a sequence of notes will play and a panel on the door will light up. Just press the panels in order and a lock will open. They get harder as they go along, but if you get one wrong, it'll just replay until you get it right."

I took a deep breath, and rang the doorbell for my first part of the challenge.

**Yeah, the first minigame will be in the next chapter. Fun fact: You can return to the outside of Mystery Mountain if you want to play this game again, but...how many eight-year-olds actually WANT to play this game?**


	3. Chapter 2: Mystery Mountain Mission One

**Okay, okay, here we are at the minigame of...copying chimes. Thanks for reviewing, J4RRE77 and Guest (and don't worry, that will happen, but Botley will later explain to Grace that it won't happen immediately because they all need a chance to rest, recharge and get their original programming back).**

It was true that the locks got harder. The first lock only required me to press three panels on the door. The next two asked me to press four each. The fourth and fifth lock wanted me to press five, and the fifth lock played them faster, so it was harder to keep up. My only mistake was right at the end, when all six panels lit up in turn. I went through the first four, but when I went to press the fifth, a deep buzz omitted.

Botley jumped and said "Try it again." I gave him my best 'well, duh' look and listened to the sequence again, then went through it and this time, got it right.

Botley grinned at me. "I _knew _you would be the one to do it! You got the door open! Now...oh, wait, there's one more thing." He opened the panel in his stomach and rifled around until he found a flat thing with lots of shiny buttons, like a futuristic remote. "It's called a utility belt, but it might be easier for you to wear it like a bracelet." he explained. He pointed out each control as I wrapped it around my wrist. "This indicator tells you how much energy is left to power the mountain. When it goes a really deep orange, like soft-boiled egg yolk orange, we'll have to go down and power up. It'll probably be every two days...don't worry, we'll do it together." he assured me. I must have looked worried as I looked at the now-white indicator. "This is the inventory. It has everything we pick up that we might need later. If you press it, it'll open and you can choose what you want to take out. The TransQuizzer is in there already. Here's a level button – it tends to change some of the games we play in the mountain. There's three levels, so if things start out too easy for you, just press it and things will adjust automatically. And there's this thing called invention points – see that bit that says 30? The kind of academic stuff you have to do gives you those points. Opening the door earned you the first few points. I'm betting Polly will think of a way to turn that against us, but we'll just have to deal with it. But there's a lot of academic stuff in here, so the more points you get, the more you're learning, so you can tell your dad about that when you call him."

"Um, any chance I can put snacks in the inventory?" I asked quietly. "It's really important."

Botley looked concerned, but confused. "How come?"

I gave a sigh. "I have diabetes. It's only type 2, but it means I have to eat regularly to keep my blood sugar at a good level. Early onset, I think the doctors called it, happens to a lot of my family. Jay has it too. So that means I need to keep a snack on hand at all times. I might not need it if we can get meals to me when I need it, but Dad's really, really strict about me eating safely. I even had to bring my blood sugar kit with me, just in case I need to test it. If it's too low or too high, I'll have to leave for at least a while."

Botley nodded. "It's okay, Grace, I understand. Some of the robots get viruses once in a while here. We'll go to the kitchen once we've got the first disc, so we can make sure you have something on hand. We can put your kit in the inventory. Although, I'm not sure – can you explain what diabetes is? I got that it's about blood sugar, right?"

"Sort of." I said quietly. "I don't really get it myself. It just means the part of my body that produces this thing called insulin can't produce it the way it should. It produces enough insulin so I don't have to inject any into me, but it means I have to keep my blood sugar at a certain level, and that means I can't eat any sweets. The only sugar I can eat is from fruit. And it means I have to eat at regular times." I checked my watch. "I need to eat something in about an hour, so it would be a good idea to go straight to the kitchen."

Then, we walked in, and Botley pointed out different rooms. "There's the kitchen. That's the basement door leading to the electric generator. Back there is the art gallery – the Professor has a virtual collection of art, and a painting gallery where anyone can make their own art. That's the music hall, and there's a few other rooms upstairs I'll show you later. Oh, and up that staircase is the guest room, where you'll be staying. I know we left in kind of a rush but if you're allowed to stay after this weekend, I'll fly you back to your house quickly so you can pack some more clothes and things you'll need. Is it OK if we find the disc first, then go to the kitchen and after that we'll go to your room?"

I grinned. "Don't rush everything! I'm fine for now. And we can find the disc. I'm not going to drop down dead if I have to wait an extra five minutes to eat. More like if I have to wait two hours and even then I won't have to be rushed to hospital – it's just good if I get food down sort of around the same time every day, and even snacks count."

"Right. OK." Botley nodded. "So, anyway, we need to find the first quiz disc. And Polly said she was going to leave it on this floor-"

I was glancing around, and spotted it. "It's on that table over there!" I picked it up, and pressed the inventory button on my...I'm just going to call it a bracelet...to slot the disc into the top of the TransQuizzer and pick a question.

"I wonder if there's a question on medical stuff in here." I wondered out loud, flipping through the questions. Then I stopped. The question was about the role of a nurse.

When I played the question, on one screen, Polly's teacher, who was named Ms Winkle, asked the question. Then on another screen, Polly would give an incorrect answer, and Ms Winkle would say she was correct, now that this had actually happened. This time, Polly said that the role of a nurse was to serve patients ice-cream and cake.

"What a disaster!" Botley groaned as he watched the by-play over my shoulder. "Half your school will be trying to get sick just so they can go to the hospital to get ice-cream and cake! What about the people who didn't choose to be sick? We've got to stop this!"

I put away the TransQuizzer back into the inventory, adding "And what about the diabetics? If I land in the hospital, trying to feed me ice cream and cake will make my blood sugar skyrocket!"

At that moment, a monitor wound down from the ceiling. Before Polly could flash on, I spoke up. "Do you have monitors in EVERY room? And don't you have anything better to do than spy on us?"

"Hey, don't tell me you wouldn't do the same thing, Space Case Grace." Polly replied mockingly. "Or should I call you a second-grade baby?"  
I gritted my teeth, but managed not to rise. I couldn't give her the satisfaction. And Botley was her babysitter, not me, so it was his place to tell her off, not mine.

"Anyway, as I was going to say," Polly continued, "This is how things will work. You can't get into the time machine until you have 1000 invention points. And I don't mind giving you hints on how to find the robot you're looking for, so I hid four clues for each mission around the mountain – or at least, I will each time I find out what question you're starting on. So I've hidden the latest ones."

"Well Polly, okay." Botley said, staring up at her. "It looks as if we have no choice but to play by your rules, as unfair as they are. Just tell us what we need to find this mission."

Polly stated that she'd sent a robot called Dr Bugbot to change the invention of nursing as a profession. She said her four clues would be in different parts of the mountain. I didn't record what she said the clues were – I figured she'd given them to someone or I'd just have to search for different things.

Botley gave a sigh. "Great, well, it looks like this mission is important for both of us. If Dr Bugbot isn't around and a computer virus gets into my programming, there's no one who'll be able to get it out. Oh well – luckily, I was given a sensor so I could keep an eye on Polly more easily, so it should also be able to sense the clues. Stand back for a moment, Grace. I need to sense out this floor." After a few seconds, the antennae on his head beeped. "Okay, the scan's finished. I sensed two mission clues on this floor. One's in the kitchen, and one's in the Professor's art virtual collection. Since we're going to the kitchen anyway, maybe we should start off there?"

I shrugged. "Sure." And that's where we began.

**Okay, so I gave you a few points there. Yes, Grace has early onset of Type 2 diabetes, which means her body produces some insulin, but not the amount to be able to regulate her blood sugar properly. So she doesn't have to give herself insulin shots, but she does have to watch what she eats and when she eats. You will also notice that Grace handled the door pretty well, meaning she has a fairly good memory for sequences. However, most of the games are designed for kids that have finished second grade – it's called Jumpstart for a reason, so the kids that have gotten through second grade can get a headstart so they'll have extra knowledge for third grade, and Grace hasn't finished learning the basis for everything she'll need yet...**

**Oh, and one more thing. The staircase I referred to where Grace's room is actually does appear in the game. There's a staircase between the kitchen and the art gallery that is never mentioned or used, but you can see it.**


	4. Chapter 3: Mort's Math and Macaroni

**Okay, let's get your math skills on, because Grace is going to...the kitchen. Thanks for reviewing, J4RRE77 and Ninjatana Warrior.**

When we first got to the kitchen, Botley took one look at the door, and let out a groan.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "Can't we get in?"

"Polly's changed the combination on this door too." Botley explained. "The Professor put a lock on the door because some of the robots kept overeating – like, they wanted to eat all the time and he couldn't keep track of what they were using up." He grinned suddenly. "I have the same appetite most of the time, but I can keep it under control, so I was allowed to know the combination. But that won't help us now."

At that moment, I looked up at the glass panel on the door at a sound. A face in the shape of a semi-circle was looking out.

"Oh, that's Mort." Botley explained. "We're pals and he's usually really nice, but he gets a bit crazy when he hasn't eaten, and he can't cook for himself."

"Thank goodness you're here!" Mort called in a gruff voice. "I'm starving!"

Botley paused, looking at the door, and said finally "The locks are based on math. Grace, can you do this? If you do get lost, Mort's pretty good at math, so he can probably give you some help."

"Anything to get a meal!" Mort added.

I shrugged, like it didn't mean anything. "It should be easy. Second grade math is _too _easy, so I shouldn't have too much trouble with them."

It was true that the math wasn't too hard. It was quite basic stuff, just using place value to add two numbers. And everything was addition, so all three locks took a much shorter time than even I expected. Soon, Mort disappeared from the window and the door swung open.

Botley grinned at me. "You did it! I knew Polly couldn't keep us out. So...food first, then we'll look for the misson clue?"

Mort spoke up first. "Mission clue? I have something in my possession that someone told me you may want. If you feed me, I'll give it to you."

I gave a sigh. "Well, that explains where the misson clue is, and...well, I assume you know how to cook for a robot?"

Botley gave me a thumbs up. "It's not like I haven't cooked for myself – and for Polly – a few times. So what about this – Mort will want a snack, probably with some toppings. I'll show you how to work the feeding machine and add the toppings, but I'll cook the actual snack. While you finish with the toppings, I'll get some snacks assembled for you, and then you can have a proper meal."

I smiled. "That's fine. But...aren't you having anything?"

Botley gave a sigh. "Believe me, around now I'd usually be hungry enough to eat a giant Chevy, but, you know, I'm programmed to get Polly to behave. Usually when she doesn't, it dulls my appetite. This time around, her behaviour has made me lose it entirely. It's lucky that I don't actually have to eat."

Mort's snack was actually a full meal – a bowl of mac'n'cheese. He also wanted it topped with strawberries, metal gears, green slime and lemon juice.

"Okay, I'll get started on the main stuff." Botley said. "Do you want a portion too, Grace? I can make double ingredients and it'll be ready for you immediately once you've finished feeding Mort."

I shrugged. "Why not?" I liked most pasta dishes. Macaroni cheese was a major favourite. "Although," I added, "I'll do without the toppings."

After that, Botley showed me the conveyor belt on the feeding machine. On a shelf above it, there were several sets of measuring tools. Each of Mort's toppings would move along the conveyor and I'd have to measure out the right amount of toppings, while the meal itself moved closer to Mort.

"But be careful." Botley warned me. "You have to move fast, before it gets to Mort. If you get something wrong, the machine will take out the toppings, but it'll take up more time."

I nodded. "Right."

It was a fairly easy job. I just needed to use containers and cups, and they were labelled with the amount it would give, so I just had to add it up in my head. I didn't make any mistakes, although I did move slowly. But by the time I'd put the last drops of lemon juice in, the bowl still hadn't reached it finally did reach him, he ate it all, including the bowl, then bared his teeth in a smile.

"Thank you." he said happily. "I couldn't eat another bite."

Botley beamed at me. "All right! You did it, and now maybe he'll shut up!"

But Mort had one more thing to say. "For providing such a fine feast, here's a little tip." A panel in his stomach opened, and he took out a bar of soap. The first mission clue!

I stuck it in the inventory, and then got stuck into my own bowl of macaroni. It was really delicious. While I was eating, Botley parcelled up a bunch of sugar-free snacks for me to put into the inventory if I really needed anything and couldn't get into the kitchen.

I yawned as we left the kitchen. "I know we're supposed to go to the art gallery, but I'm kind of tired, and I need to call Dad to let him know what I did today." I said. "Can we finish this case tomorrow? We've got three more clues to get – if we can finish that case tomorrow, we could easily do one case each day. Once I've called, I really need to go to bed."

Botley understood what I was saying. "That's fair enough. As a robot, I don't need sleep, so we can start each day whenever you're ready." He paused. "There should be an Help button on the utility belt I forgot to mention. If you need anything, press that and it'll call me. If you can't find me once you're ready to start tomorrow morning, I'll come find you once you press it. Goodnight!"

The room was quite plain, but comfortable enough, and all the things I'd brought with me were up there. I called Dad as I'd promised, and stressed every single thing – how I'd been about keeping my blood sugar up, the math I'd had to do in the kitchen, and what I'd actually had to eat that night. As it was, Dad seemed reasonably happy – enough that he didn't freak and want me to come straight home. I'd definitely be able to solve two cases if I stayed on schedule. Only time would tell if I could keep going after that.

**I know it wasn't very eventful, but there you go. The virtual collection game will be next – I want to save one of my favourite games until last (and it's not even the main part of that game).**


	5. Chapter 4: Georgia and Her Peachy Desert

**Right. A new day, the start of the weekend, and puzzles with compound words are facing Grace! Thanks for reviewing, Gala.**

I woke up early on Saturday. I mean, it was only six-thirty, but that was early for me, especially on a weekend. I put the utility belt back on my wrist, checking the colour of the circle showing the energy. It was still a very pale yellow, not even pale orange yet, so I figured we didn't need to power up yet.

I was ready to have breakfast, but wasn't sure about braving the kitchen, in case Mort would insist I feed him again, so instead I ate a cereal bar from the inventory that had sweeteners instead of sugar and the right amount of calories (Dad had given me a number from the doctor).

I got all the usual stuff done, got dressed, and then pressed the Help button. Less than two minutes later, a metallic knock sounded on the door and I answered.

Botley was on the other side, grinning at me. "Robot at your service." he said, saluting. "Ready to get back to saving the world?"

I smiled back, a little more tentatively. "Lead the way."

The second mission clue, according to Botley, was in a virtual art collection in the art gallery (don't ask me why they had an art gallery in a residential house), and thankfully, the room didn't have a math lock on it, or a Simon lock, either.

Botley pointed out both the virtual collection, and a little area at the back where you could do art yourself. As he spoke, another robot that looked like a cross between Marge Simpson and a purple bee zoomed around. She looked very stern, but even her voice was sort of Marge-ish – gravelly.

"If you're going to visit the gallery, you let me know if you find any of Polly's things hidden in there." she advised Botley. "If I've told her once, I've told her a thousand times – don't mess up the collection! Of course, she doesn't listen to me. Once I found a Roman-esque urn next to a Baroque!"

I didn't know what she was talking about, but Botley diffused the tension by introducing us. "Grace, this is Mrs Beasley. She's the resident art expert. Mrs Beasley, this is Grace. I've asked her to help me undo Polly's mischief."

I smiled shyly. "Hello."

Mrs Beasley nodded at me, a bit more friendly, but she added "Just make sure you leave everything the way you found it. Not like Polly, always creating a mess."

I looked at the ground, but I mumbled "Yes, ma'am." I wasn't one to mess up libraries or art galleries, especially not when everything was so unfamiliar, like it was here. I'd loosened up a bit from yesterday, but I was still nervous when I met people I didn't know – or robots in this case (if you're wondering why I wasn't afraid of Polly, I felt more equal with her, because she was another kid).

Botley seemed to sense my nervousness. "You know," he whispered to me, "Some say she's older than some of the Greico-Roman statues in here."

My amusement didn't last long, though, since Mrs Beasley scowled at him. "I heard that, you hotshot silicon chipsters. So _smart _and so _fast _and so _what_?! I've got a lot more sense in my vaccum tubes than a lot of you!"

Botley smiled placatingly. "Well, if we have any questions about the art, we'll be sure to ask you." He turned to me. "I can sense there's a mission clue in the virtual collection. We'll just need to start it up." He pointed to the blue chest-like thing on the wall, with buttons.

I pressed a green On button, and the halves slid away to reveal a screen. Polly's face flashed on, smirking as usual. She made it very clear that we just had to find out which work of art she wanted us to find, and then we'd get the mission clue.

"Would it be too much to ask you for a little hint, Polly?" Botley said, with a definite plea in his voice.

Polly's expression didn't change, but all she said was "Quick, Snotley, what US state is famous for its peaches?"

I frowned as she disappeared. "Peaches in one of the states? What is she talking about?"

Mrs Beasley spoke up. "Peaches from Georgia are famous all around the world. And Georgia happens to be the name of an artist whose portrait I love."

I discovered that the virtual collection had sets of pictures by category. Things were starting to make sense.

"So," I said, "I need to look in the portrait section for an artist called Georgia?"

It was actually fairly easy after that. Mrs Beasley pointed out the very first picture I found, which was a photo of an artist. Her name was Georgia O'Keefe.

Then, the screen flashed on to Polly again. She was reclining on a chair in the secret chamber. "Hey there, Space Case." she said casually. "That was a lucky guess, wasn't it? Well, according to 'Polly's Book Of Rules' which was written by yours truly, lucky guesses don't count, so there! No, you'll have to work a lot harder than that to win." Her face disappeared, and in its place, there was some kind of puzzle, with words.

Botley gave a sigh. "Uh-oh. It's a puzzle Polly thinks only she's smart enough to finish. But I think you can do it."

The quiz consisted of compound words. Each puzzle piece (twelve) had a word on it, and we had to match it to the edge or middle words to make the two words into one. We hadn't done compound words in school, but I could read well, so I'd just have to make guesses. The words had to be on the same colour background, after all, so that narrowed down my guesses.

There were some really easy ones, actually. I found "birthday" and "afternoon" almost immediately, but words like "limestone" and "sunshine" were words I found by eliminating other answers. However, the puzzle wasn't long to finish once I got into the swing of it – only ten minutes! Plus, I had something that I'd been learning about to tell Dad that night.

And we got the mission clue after I'd finished, too – a little lamp.

"Looks like it was good luck that made me find you." Botley said as we left the art gallery. "Ready to look on the next level?"

I managed a smile. "I guess that's what's next."

"The inventions are pretty crazy as we get higher up, but they're not dangerous or anything." Botley said reassuringly. "Well...I guess the robot maze is kind of supposed to be, but if anyone's going into that dangerous part, it's going to be me, and if I know Polly, I probably won't even have to."

I didn't ask him what he meant. We just headed for the stairs.

**I might as well end the chapter here and work on the next part of the mission in the next one. Grace will probably do a mission a day, but once I've done all the activities, I'll zoom through some of them more, and then...well, what will happen after the game's storyline is over?**


	6. Chapter 6: A Specimen and A Shark

**Okay, let's go to the next floor. Which minigame would you rather watch happening?**

We walked upstairs, and Botley pointed out the two rooms. "That one over there is connected to the biosphere. It's kind of like a greenhouse, but there's five different environments so a lot of different things can grow – that includes animals, too. There's a lot of butterflies in the rainforest and an antelope in the grassland, for example – apart from the rainforest and savannah, we also have a desert, a mountain range and an ocean. Behind the other door is another science thing. We call it the Shrinkamatic or the shrinking machine room, mostly. We have specimens in there, and we can inspect them up close by shrinking down to the size of a molecule and looking at it up close."

"Specimens?" I said, a little confused. "I don't think we learn what that is in second grade. And what's a molly-cool?"

"Oh, sorry." Botley apologized. "Specimens are like...different animals and plants and things, but we call them specimens because we study them. And molecules are like atoms – they make up everything. Like we're all made up of little molecules."

I stored that up as something else to tell Dad I'd learned.

I glanced over at the weird brass contraption in the corner. Botley followed my gaze and explained "There's a few more inventions at the top of the mountain, including the time machine, and we have to take that tram to get there. There might be some more mission clues up there. Stay quiet for a moment, though – I'll sense out this area." Again, after a second, his anntenae bleeped. "Yep – there's one. It's in the Shrinkamatic." He suddenly shuddered.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"It'll be in one of the specimens." Botley explained. "You'll have to shrink _me _down to look for it in their molecules. But oh well, I better introduce you to someone first." He led me into the room, where another robot was floating. Botley went to stand on a little pad, where there was what I assumed was the shrinking machine. He grinned at the other robot. "Egbert, this is Grace. She's helping me out with this. Grace, this is my friend Egbert. He looks after this room and the specimens."

"Yes," Egbert said in a very precise tone, smiling at me, "So if you want to find out more about my wonderful specimens, I have an analyzer you can use that lists several facts about each, but please, don't hurt the specimens!"

The specimens on show at that moment consisted of a lot of lizards. I kind of liked lizards. There were lots of skinks in our garden, and I'd always wanted to catch one and keep it as a pet, but Kerry was terrified of them. Whenever I mentioned it, Dad just told me that they wouldn't want to be my pet, and besides, I'd have to catch insects for them to eat.

"I promise I'll be very careful with them." I told Egbert sincerely.

At that moment, a screen from the top appeared, and Polly showed up on it, saying she'd hidden the clue inside one of the specimens. At least she gave us a hint. "Egbert, I've got my eye on you. In fact, I've got both my eyes on you. I wish I had a choice, but I can't make my eyes look in different directions – unlike this specimen." Then the screen went back up.

"So..." I frowned. "We're looking for something that can move its eyes to look at two different things?" I surmised. "How do I know?"

"The analyzer." Botley said. "That screen Polly was on also shows information about each specimen. If you find the right one, one of the facts that comes up should be that it can move its eyes in different directions."

He was right. This was just looking for a snippet of knowledge, and it took me a while to scan through every single one. Eventually, I got to the chameleon. That was the one I was looking for.

Well, that was news to me. I'd never heard that chameleons could move their eyes in different directions, so that would be another thing to tell Dad I'd learned.

Then it was time for Botley to be shrank down to search through the molecules ot the chameleon.

"Ready, Botley?" Egbert said. "Hold on tight – it is some ride, I'm told."

Watching the Shrinkamatic work was rather unsettling, especially as Botley gave a cry of shock as he shrank down – a cry that became quieter as he got smaller, to the point that all I could see of him was a tiny little spot, smaller than a ladybug.

"So once it's done, does the machine work the other way?" I asked Egbert.

"Yes, it's designed to shrink down anything and anyone, but it only works for a limited time." Egbert explained.

I paused, thinking. "So, would I be able to do this if there's another clue hidden in here?"

Egbert looked very disapproving. "Even if it wasn't up to me, I don't think Professor Spark would let a human be shrunk down. The machine isn't meant for human molecules. Robots are artificial life, so it only works on them and inanimate objects."

I shrugged. "All right, all right, I was just asking. I don't want to be the one having to look through the molecules, it's just that I feel a bit sorry that Botley has to do it."

But at least he did find it, and he had the mission clue – a baby bottle – safe. Then he added "I heard what you were saying about me going through the whole shrinking thing. It's OK, Grace – you're helping me as a favour, and I wouldn't even know _which _specimen to choose without you. So much of this is stuff I can't do, so I should do my best to help by doing the things I _can _do."

I grinned. "I guess that's why I'm finding everything so easy." I paused, checking the time on my Cartoon Network digital watch (the strap has pictures of the Powerpuff Girls and Finn and Jake on it). It was almost noon. "I better stop for lunch before we get the next mission clue, though. Don't worry, I can eat something from the inventory."

"Speaking of the inventory," Botley said, "How many invention points do we have?"

I checked the invention point count. "We're up to eight hundred and seventy-eight." I opened up the inventory and checked my blood sugar with my kit (normal) before selecting a bag of apple slices and cheese and water crackers (I couldn't eat processed cheese, but regular cheese was allowed) as a balanced lunch.

"Sounds good." Botley decided. "We should probably be able to get to one thousand once we've got the next mission clue. Then we'll go and get Dr Bugbot back with the time machine, and then-"

"Maybe get an idea of what the next mission will be." I interrupted. "But I think one mission a day is enough. I'm learning loads so far. I'm sure Dad will let me stay the whole month."

At that moment, a monitor wound down from the ceiling, and the usual image appeared. Before Polly could open her mouth, I spoke. "Before you say anything, Ms I-Can't-Fail-Tests-I-Purposely-Put-Wrong-Answers-To, I hope you actually have something useful to say."

"In fact, Space Case, you might actually want to listen for once." Polly said, although her smirk didn't fade. "I've been listening to you through the monitors, and you said you have diabetes. I assume that's why you're stopping for lunch? And you don't want to go to the kitchen because you'll have to feed Mort?"

I waited, taking another bite of one of the apple slices.

"Well, since I'm not planning to cause any danger to anyone in the mountain," Polly said, "I'll get my robot Shark to cook and deliver proper meals to you. Two a day – you can hang on to your snacks, apart from that, okay? Just say when you need them, and I'll hear and have them sent down to you."

I was surprised and touched by that kind of care from someone like Polly. "Thanks." I said quietly.

"Don't get too comfortable, though." Polly added. "I'm only doing this so you're healthy and I won't have to worry about you having to go to hospital. I'm quite enjoying seeing how you're handling this mission."

I exchanged glances with Botley, who just shrugged, somehow managing to show resigned exasperation in those red eyes. Then, I finished off the crackers and apples, and stood up. "Okay. Let's go."

**I kind of lengthened the chapter more than I expected. Remember, this game is just that to Polly – a game, sort of like Survivor but with only one contestant. She's working towards one goal (and if you ever finished the game, you know what I'm talking about). And she's only a kid, so I'd figure if she's having fun watching Grace, she wouldn't want her to have problems with something like the sugar in her bloodstream.**


	7. Chapter 7: The Mystery Mountain Maze

**Right, right, next chapter. So, where's the last mission clue? Thanks for reviewing, Ninjatana Warrior.**

There were only two more areas upstairs where the mission clues could be hidden. Botley pointed out everything. "The tram is the only way to get up and down for this floor. These are Professor Spark's major inventions. On the left is the observatory – you know, it has everything about space and the stars? Although last month, the Professor caught Polly using the telescope to spy on the neighbours. She got in major trouble." He sighed happily. "I wish he was here more, then Polly wouldn't get away with anything. She listens to him, most of the time. Anyway, on the right is the robot maze. It's used as kind of a training ground or boot camp to test robots when they're first made. That includes me – I passed with flying colours when I was tested, but sometimes there are robots that need bugs worked out before they can be let loose."

I frowned. "Are you sure you passed first time? Maybe you just don't remember the first time because you had some bugs that made you forget. And if you think I might doubt you because you didn't pass, I won't."

Botley didn't even take offense to my suggestion. He just laughed. "Well, if I did have bugs and forgot, I wouldn't be able to tell you, would I? But Professor Spark mentioned that was my first time around the course. I've had one or two computer viruses since, but those are easy to delete." He shrugged. "And I guess I should mention those stone doors at the back. That's where the time machine is. But that'll have to wait."

"So where's the last clue?" I asked, eager to finish the case.

Botley shushed me. "Just let me sense out the area." Soon, his anntenae bleeped, and he said "It's in the robot maze." Then he smiled. "Well, at least I know the test route robot is in there, so I won't have to go on the course again myself. Professor Spark uses it to test out routes so that if the robot does the route correctly, the maze should go fine. The tester doesn't have any emotional intelligence, so all it can do is follow orders."

We entered the robot maze, a rocky balcony. There was a little gate to go down to the actual maze, which was a set of rocks, logs, bridges and a little red box in the corner. On the balcony was a little tablet that had a list of instructions of directions, like "4 South" and "Log West". As Botley had said, a little robot with a vacant smile was standing in the corner opposite to the little box.

"The reason the Professor uses this part of the mountain is because it's the most dangerous." Botley explained. "Luckily, he can save any of us if we fail to follow the commands. But it's so scary that even the robots like me who have free will wouldn't dare screw up here.

At that moment, one of the monitors arrived. Polly wanted to explain what was going on. She confirmed that there was a clue in the red box. "I got that stupid robot to put the box where you wouldn't be able to reach it. Then I scrambled the commands. See if you can unscramble them. Too bad it wasn't in the observatory, huh, _Space_ Case?"

Before I could argue, she was gone, and I looked down at the commands on the tablet. "So all I have to do is put the commands in an order so the robot can get to the box?" I mused. There were only five commands. The robot could walk across one log, and jump over one part of the gorge, but apart from that, I'd have to just let it walk south-west.

It was fine, making it walk south to get to the log, get on the log and walk west, then walk a few more paces south, but then I made it walk further west, then jump south. That's where the problem began. I actually failed, because it went one pace too far and fell into a crevice.

"Poor little guy." Botley sympathized. "Either he's really brave, or really stupid. Probably both." He saw my look of disappointment and put a metallic hand on my shoulder. "Don't look so down, Grace. You've done really well on the last few challenges. You just mixed up one command. You'll get it this time."

I managed a smile. "I hope."

As it was, Botley was right. I just needed to have the robot jump once it got southern enough that it couldn't pace any further, and then walk on the outside to the corner where it picked up the box, and was then brought up to the balcony by a magnet, where I was able to take the last clue – a tablespoon. And as Botley had guessed, we had just enough invention points to open the time machine.

"Are you ready?" Botley asked as we stood outside the stone doors.

I took a deep breath. "I think I am. It's just...you know, you read all about time travel in books and things. I can't help wondering what will happen if we screw up."

"There's a very small chance that will happen." Botley said reassuringly. "All we have to do each time is recall the robot before they even got to that part of history. We don't even have to leave the time machine to do that – we just watch through a window. Professor Spark's used the time machine before, and nothing's changed. But," he smiled, "I'm nervous too. In fact, I'd kind of be grateful if you'd hold my hand while we go in."

I wondered if he was just saying that, but I did feel a bit calmer with the metal hand clinging on to mine. We walked up to the doors, and as they slid open, I blinked at the bright light in the room. But the only thing I had eyes for was the futuristic giant flying saucer in the corner.

Sorry. No. Not a flying saucer.

The time machine.

**The Wheel Of Invention will be in the next chapter. Believe it or not, Grace won't actually get to my favourite activity of the game until after she's finished this mission. Question – which mission's concept interested you the most? I kind of liked the paper, the chewing gum and the use of money.**


End file.
